Latest Insights
Russian sanctions create unexpected winners
No losers without a winner. Producers across several countries rush to fill the gaps caused by Russia’s sanctions against Western food products. The tit-for-tat exchange of sanctions between Western powers and
US municipal bonds squeezed by austerity
A perfect storm of austerity, low interest rates, and rebounding tax revenues are causing US municipal bond yields to plummet. The first part of 2014 was strong for municipal bond
Risk is not limited to internal corporate audit
Could concentrating ERM functions in internal audit, under a supervising corporate audit committee, be an obstacle to developing effective enterprise-wide risk management? Managing risks should involve all levels of corporate management and staff,
Five reasons LAF will keep Lebanon stable
The recent military operations at the Sunni border town of Arsal highlight that the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) will remain crucial to holding the country together amid its political crisis.
Will a partnership emerge between Israel and Ukraine?
In the midst of respective civil conflicts, Israel and Ukraine find themselves being drawn closer together. A strengthened partnership between the two countries could yield a number of strategic dividends.
India begins to address energy security
How India chooses to address its energy security concerns will offer clues towards Modi’s foreign policy plans and the kind of power India will be in the next century. Loosely
Opinion: The economic case for a unified Iraq
With ethno-sectarian tensions at a high, observers, stakeholders, and policymakers of Iraq are calling increasingly for a break-up of the country along ethnic and sectarian lines. But a break-up would be
Can the EU create a common defence policy?
Although countries have framed the debate about arms exports to Russia and Iraq in largely economic or national terms, defence policy also plays an important part in these debates, especially
Islamic State reshapes Syria’s war economy
In the Syrian conflict, all sides had developed a stake in maintaining a war economy. With the emergence of the Islamic State (IS), which controls a third of Syria’s territory, the
Will Ukraine retake the East from separatists?
Ukraine is on the road to re-establishing its control of the East, but serious issues still remain, making it vulnerable to Moscow’s wishes. On August 4th, Ukrainian forces began operations
